Shoe.



E. J. BLISS.

SHOE.

APPLICATFON" FILED MAY 14, I915.

Patented Mar. 5, 1918 fave 2167 y M Matty.

UNITED STATES ELIE}! J. BLISS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T REGAL comment,

OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

SHOE. 4

Application filed May 14, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMER J. Brass, citi zen of the United States, and resident of Boston, Massachusetts, have invented eer- 6 tain new and useful Improvements in Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to shoes of leather or other fabric and is intended to provide a construction and arrangement which shall 0 act to preserve the original shape of the shoe before it is worn from being distorted by the strains and pressure to which the shoe upper is subjected by the foot of the wearer.

It is a well-known fact that shoe uppers, particular y when made of relatively light distensible leather or of cloth tend to become stretched or distorted so as to produce more or less looseness or bagginess, pa l'tltlb 2o larly about the waist of the shoe.

The present invention overcomes this dilliculty by building into the shoe around the waist or other portion of the last a reinforcing member consisting of relatively nonclistensible leather or canvas or other flexible. material suited to this purpose, the opposite ends or edges of which are positively anchored so as to relieve the upper itself from stretching or distorting strains.

80 The characteristic features of this invention will be described in detail and defined in the claims hereto annexed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a shoe with 85 the outer covering or upper removed to show the reinforcement in relation to the. lining of the shoe.

Fi 2 is a. cross section on plane 2-2 of Fig. 1.

40 Fig. 3 is a separate detail showing a form of reinforcement in side elevation.

In the practice of the invention, it will be understood that the shoe is lasted in accordance with the usual methods or practice, but that before the lasting operation there is secured between the lining a and the outer layer of leather or cloth I) a reinforcing member comprising a piece of thin tough leather or canvas or the like 0 which is preferably formed into individual straps or parallel portions 0 in order to make the reinforcing member conform perfectly to the more or less irregular contour of the foot.

In the drawings, this reinforcement is 66 shown as comprising one piece 0 divided into Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 5, 916. Serial No. 28,986.

separated strips, the integral or upper no?- tion secured firmly to the instep or iiy portion of the lace shoe by means oi the usual. eyelets 1! which pass through the lining, the reinforcement, and the upper and rivet them together. .Jl llG line of stitching d which passes through the edge of the fly strip may also serve as an additional means of iirinly anchoring this portion of the reinforcing member. The longitudinal slots subdivid ing the strip may be extended to any convenieut. or suitable height, even to the upper edge as seen in Fig. 3, but I have here shown them in Fig. .l. as terminating some distance below the upper edge the reinforcing member. This reinforcing principle may also be applied as far forward in the shoe as desired to effect the object of preserving the shape of the upper, for example, around the ball as at 0 The bottom ends or edges of the tongues or straps e coincide practically with the edge of the upper and the lining and are lasted upon and stitched to the shoe bottom or insole e simultaneously with the upper and lining according to any usual lasting method.

The same row of stitching c, in case of the Goodyear welt shoe, secures the upper t the insole e that also passes through and secures the reinforcin strips to the bottom.

In the case of a low cut shoe, such as is illustrated. in Fig. l, a form-preserving strip may be carried around the upper edge of the shoe from the fi back to the counter, as indicated at 0 in order to preserve a snug lit around this iortion' of the shoe and. prevent the edge of the upper from gripping away from the foot after the shoe has been worn for a considerable time.

What I claim is:

1. A shoe embracing in its construction the upper and its lining and an interposed reinforcement comprising narrow individual straps anchored to the shoe bottom, together with the upper and lining. and having its upper edge firmly secured to the upper over the instep portion whereby the original shape of the shoe when lasted is preserved from distortion, substantially as described 2. 'Ihefcombination of a shoe embracing the bottom, the upper and the-lining and reinforcing means comprising distinct strips secured to the shoe bottom near its opposite sides and extending diagonally upward ual narrow strips of flexible material firmly secured to the bottom on either side and extending upward between the lining and the upper in a diagonal forwardly extending direction, the upper portion of said reinforcing mains being permanently secured to the fly po tion of the upper by eyelets, substai'itially as described.

4. In a :ioe, the combination of the outer covering or upper, the inside lining, and a series of narrow strips of flexible non-distensible material interposed between the lining and the outer covering and having their opposite ends securely fastened to the shoe in order to maintain and preserve/the original shape thereof, substantially as described.

5. The above described. shoe emoracingin its construction a bottom, an upper, and a lining, of usual construction, and a reinforcing member occupying the waist. and

instep portion of the shoe between the upper and the lining, and slotted to separate it into distinct strips, said reinforcing mernber being secured by the eyelets of the shoe to the upper adjacent to the edges of the vent, the lower separated ends of said reinforcing member being securely anchored to the bottom of the shoe.

(5. A reinforced shoe embracing in its construction a bottom, an upper and a lining of usual construction, a reinforcing member of flexible relatively non-distensible material, securely fastened to the edge portion of the upper adjacent to the vent, and subdivided into a series of strips extending diagonally between the upper and the lining to the shank portion of the bottom to which they are fastened and a supplemental reinforcing strip extending around the upper edge of the top of the shoe between the lining and the upper, whereby the stretching of the upper is prevented, sub stantially as described.

In witness wluareof, l have subscribed the above specification.

ELMER J. BLISS. 

